Right now, I find myself in a place where I have to stop trying to make a difference. I have realized that I cannot win this game. This year I spoke out about some teaching practices and administrative decisions that I disagreed with from my perspective as a parent and student advocate. I spoke out,…
It’s official! I have a high school senior once again! With my oldest graduating from college this year, I find myself headed into the busy time of preparing for college applications with my next oldest! Today, as I write, he is taking the SAT or Scholastic Aptitude Test or more recently known as the Scholastic…
Creativity feeds the soul! I am not sure where this phrase or expression came from but I absolutely believe in it. Last weekend, I spent Saturday at an art gallery in Northeast Iowa that carries my handcrafted jewelry for the tourist season. There, I showed children how to make beaded bookmarks, key rings, and bracelets….
Service Learning, A.K.A volunteerism, has recently been an important part of preparing high school students, and even those younger, to be an active engaged citizen. There is no doubt that when you serve others, you receive a sense of community, empathy, and responsibility to society. I did not set out to be a role model…
At the end of April, I presented to one of our elementary schools on Forests as part of their Environmental Day celebration. Our forests are one, if not the, most important natural resource we have in the world today. The children heard an impassioned description of what the forest does for humans. The single most…
Since participating this past March in the Slice of Life Challenge hosted by TwoWritingTeachers, I have continued to write daily, or pretty close to it. I think I have only missed writing a handful of days. This has been despite a busy schedule of taking graduate courses, attending three sports for two boys (Varsity Tennis,…
Here in the United States, it is the Memorial Day Holiday. A day when we take pause to remember our veterans who serve and sacrifice to keep Americans safe at home and abroad. In our town, we have a very short parade consisting of service representatives who walk with our flag as part of the…
I always wait with the students as parents arrive to pick them up from our garden club meetings. Invariably, there is a student, usually one of the younger ones, who becomes nervous that their adult will not arrive to take them home. Pick up was from outside the school this week, as we planted the…